The practice of aquatic sports, especially surfing, involves genuine risks and generates a considerable number of accidents. In general, the accidents are related to the loss of consciousness. The loss of consciousness is sudden and the surfer does not realise the danger.
Among the known protection elements in the marine area are the life preserver jackets that can be inflated by blowing through a small tube or pulling on a cord that activates a CO2 cartridge. This type of jackets keeps the head of the subject out of the water, even when unconscious. There are evolutions in this type of jackets which can be inflated automatically when coming in contact with the water. However, the problem that these jackets present is that for practicing a sport such as surfing, it is very complicated for the user to wear a jacket due to the fact that they are voluminous devices, uncomfortable to adjust and they reduce the surfer's mobility at all times.
A good solution is that put forward in this invention, which could be a collar-type life preserver which does not reduce the user's mobility and protects him in moments of danger.
The first inflatable collar-type flotation system, without interior bladder, was introduced in 1961 by the French company Fenzy. It was constructed of rubberised fabric, and the seams were sealed with glue. Another distinctive characteristic was the fact that it held a small bottle of compressed air that was refilled from the bottle. The air passed from the small bottle to the collar, through a small valve, which inflated the collar and converted it in a small reserve of extra air. In order to release the content of the air inside the collar, the user would use the manual inflating/deflating nozzle.
One of the main risks in practicing marine and submarine sports is fainting or loss of consciousness due to a lack of oxygen in the body, producing death by drowning. The athlete falls asleep without realising it while he remain under water, or he faints while going up to the surface, when he has exceeded his capacity of apnea and he lacks of oxygen, in these cases a life preserve is needed that is activated without the need of the user being awake, in other words, it activates automatically and independently of the user; it also needs to make the user's head float thanks to the body's centre of gravity.
Another predecessor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,699,679 which reveals an inflatable swimming garment used as a life preserver for a swimmer, which includes an inflatable part so that the swimmer can float when he is in danger and to create, which it inflates, a difference of volume between the upper and lower parts of the swimmer's body. The garment includes an inflating system that consists of gas tank of compressed gas to inflate the inflatable part of the device when it is necessary; a controllable valve that connects between the air tank and the inflatable part, to allow, when necessary, the compressed gas to inflate the inflatable part; a controller to analyse the state of the swimmer under water and to open the valve after the swimmer has been in a real and imminent danger during a predetermined time; and a battery to supply energy for the functioning of the controller and the valve.
The cited “device” is only designed as a safety system for the practice of scuba diving in apnea or underwater fishing by snorkelling; in no case should it be used for autonomous scuba diving with bottles due to the risk of blow-up and excessive lung expansion.
The problem that this type of life preserver presents is that it does not ensure that the user's head is held out of the water at all times, since part of a life preserver garment does not ensure that the user's head is oriented properly.
In the device referred to above as background information, its sensor starts with a timer that begins to count when the swimmer is under the water in order to then send a signal so that the life preserver inflates, not taking into account other important variables such as the level of oxygen in the blood, the altered heart rate, etc.